The Downside of Fandom

One realization every fan needs to go through is the realization that sports is disgusting. As fans, we need to ignore the fact that who we are watching are people that spent their entire lives training to play the game. Their families depend on them playing at a high level. The career's of these players will usually end by the time they are 40, if not sooner. The players entertaining us will spend the rest of their lives struggling to get out of bed in the morning because their knees are shot. Yet, we ignore this; and when a player makes a mistake in a crucial moment of a game, we chastise them for making the mistake. We act like we are the ones truly suffering. We act like we could have done better (like any of us can even begin to comprehend what is going on in the game). When we see a player tear every muscle connected to his knee while making a cut, we bemoan the fact that we now have to deal with a backup in the game. Very few of us have the thought that this players life will be so drastically altered, that this players family will be so drastically altered, that they will never, ever, be the same. We ignore all of this because (some of them) make millions of dollars every year.

I would Love to make millions of dollars every year (the percentage of players who make millions, by the way, is very small). I, like many Americans, though, am not good at saving money. Many of us laugh at how many athletes are broke after being out of the league for 10 years. We laugh at their stupidity, and point out that we would never be so foolish. How many of us, if we were to lose our job today, would be able to live to the end of the year on our savings? I am guessing not many. Very few people are good with money, and even fewer acknowledge when they aren't so good. If I were making, say, 10 million dollars a year, would I be able to live in a 300,000 dollar house in a pretty good neighborhood and put over 95% of my money in savings? Doubtful. Be honest, neither would you. (To those of you who said they could, ask yourself this: Would you have been able to when you were in your 20's?)

We have no idea the constant pain that these players are in. I have seen the many packs of ice piled on Ersan Ilyasova's knees. I have seen Mike Dunleavy limping away from the stadium, knowing that he would have to return tomorrow. I have seen Clay Matthew's hands, Desmond Bishops knuckles, and Charles Woodson's fingers. Disgusting. I feel disgusting. Will these guys be able to comfortably lift a cup of water when they retire? Are the nerves in their hands irreparable?

I don't blame anyone for being a fan. I have seen all of this and I remain a fan, does that make me the most disgusting?

I don't care how much any of them make. At any second, they could lose it all, their families could lose it all, and have to live the rest of their lives on the money they made in 5 years. What about the Adam Greenberg? He trained his entire life only to see one pitch in the Major Leagues. He was hit in the head, on the very first pitch he saw. He has never played in another Major League game. He suffers every day from the aftereffects of that pitch. He will never get a chance to make millions. Remember TJ Ford? What about Gary Berry? Nick Collins? Eric LeGrand? Korey Stringer?

These are the hands of New York Giants offensive lineman David Diehl...

And we haven't gotten in to the mental side of things...